Empire Avenue Business Benefits? A Conversation with Robert Scoble and Jeremiah Owyang

Hello- Thank you any newcomers to my blog via Empire Avenue- I’m @Caleb- a friendly thinker, writer, social media strategist, speaker and consultant. I’m all about Relational Leadership, and I want to meet you. Please don’t be a voyeur but connect on Twitter @calebstorkey, subscribe to the blog and leave some comments or topically come and get some of me at @caleb on Empire Avenue. I’ll be chatting to everyone extensively……OK with that out of the way…lets move on!

I’ve been playing around with Empire Avenue the last few days. (Although those of you who’ve engaged in it, will know ‘playing’ is an understatement- it’s seriously sticky!)

In short its networking, gaming, aggregation and social currency all rolled into one. You link up your social accounts through your Empire Avenue account. Currently it supports Twitter,Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Flickr (with Foursquare being lined up). Through a combination of looking at your social media activity and people buying shares in you, you end up with a share value. This share price rises and falls dependent on your ongoing social engagement, and the trading activities of your ‘shareholders.’ If you want to rise on Empire Avenue, people need to buy you and if you stop engaging through your social networks than you’re price will fall.

Simple – right? No it’s not.

But Empire Avenue has got the perfect combination that all good games have: A simple pull to entice you in, enough stickability to keep you exploring and a great chance to network strategically benefiting you professionally. I’m completely immersed in it- and finding more ways to explore, understand and get more greatly immersed (looking for one or two large businesses I can case study with).

It’s so sticky that currently I’m feeling frustrated writing this, as it’s all kicking off in there- and I feel like I’m missing out! When was the last time you felt that online?

It could be described as similar to Klout, but with a social element. Although that doesn’t do it justice at all (NB Klout must be very nervous!!)

For those of you who are new to it, and want to understand more of it’s background, how it works, it’s features, tips to grow, interview with the founder, or quotes from prominent users, prominent people/ businesses, I’ll be adding further posts. This post anticipates you have used it, have an understanding of it.

I’ve been gathering the thoughts, wisdom and reflections of those who have been there since the beginning as well as those ‘early adopters’ as @Dups (aka Duleepa Wijayawardhana one of the founders of Empire Avenue) would call the likes of me who’ve joined at this stage. (I’ve only been here a few days, so it’s a generous title, but it feels good :) As well as finding it one of the friendliest places online recently, (Three Cheers for #SocialEmpire), I promised a bunch of people that I’d gather together some ideas and throw them out for others.

I’ve found myself being asked questions on how businesses will use Empire Avenue. And I’ve got into many interesting conversations.

It started when I felt a sense of urgency; watching something unfold before me. I was in a conversation with an international mobile phone company, as to whether they should jump in. And I was saying emphatically yes. They do a lot online already, they’ve got good social media activity and engagement, and this just opens them up to a wider audience; gives them some great PR opportunities and a chance to grow with Empire Avenue as it’s features develop. The community involved are so friendly, that there are no desires to ditch companies at this stage (though yesterday with the outage from Amazon EC2, there was some ‘threatening’ jokes flying about).

There’s a buzz about Empire Avenue, and I’m sure the tipping point is close. It’s been around for a while, and originally they focused on an advertising model, which didn’t work as well. But @Dups and the team have done the right thing; stepped out the way, and let the community shape it.

And you can sense the traction as a result! It’s shaped well, and it’s still shaping!

At the time of writing brands like FORD, OREO, SEARS, AUDI, SCOTTRADE and RACKPSACE are on. Many more are following suit, and in the chat rooms we were a little giddy to invest in Lady GaGa in the wee hours, only to find it wasn’t actually her! She’s since been booted. It’s a matter of days till big names jump on!

Jeremy Owyang on Empire Avenue @Jowyang

Hooked, I ended up having a telephone conference call with three others who were keen to explore where Empire Avenue was going to go. I felt chuffed to chat as if I was in Silicon Valley myself, having a beer with some heroes of mine. Robert Scoble@SCBL, Jeremiah Owyang@jowyang and Neil Pearce@neilpearce. It was about 2.00am for me, but I was going strong on my quest of all things Empire Avenue.

I asked what got @jowyang interested in Empire Avenue.

‘Monday night, someone said I’ve just sold you and I laughed! Than I realised Empire Avenue was something. This is special- This is something different.’

@SCBL had been introduced to it by his colleagues.

I found out about it through David @Armano. It’s his fault I’ve not slept for a few days!

@SCBL was phoning in from his car, and was off to be away for a few days. To which we laughed and shouted- Time to sell our ‘@SCBL shares!’

As prices are dependent on the level of social engagement activity, when people go on vacations, often prices can drop.

@SCBL- sharp and careful not to lose his footing, reminded us that he had his phone and he’d be keeping an eye on it all! He’ll be keeping his activity up…so take it from me, I wouldn’t sell him! Robert- I think you’re stocks are safe…..for now :)

We had a little debate as to whether EA is a destination for consumption of peoples social feeds, similar to Friendfeed. @jowyang retorted: ‘We don’t need another Friendfeed.’

And he’s right. Empire Avenue is more engaging than Friendfeed, or Klout. There’s a greater chance to interact, and a higher motivation to engage. My blogging and twitter (@calebstorkey) has increased massively, because I’m enjoying a fresh batch of people to meet. And I’ve got that nervous don’t want to miss out energy. Most people who gravitate onto it, after all, are going to want to have a good share price.

We explored the strategies that would shape up for business.

@SCBL felt that there was strong potential for brands to sell virtual products to reward customer loyalty through the payment of dividends.

Now that would be an interesting thought :)

@SCBL- also saw the ‘buying and selling, as a kind of tunable like button.’

I’d add that when people are buying, there’s a sense of affirmation- “I believe you’re going to trade well and I’ll benefit as a result with the number of Eaves I have.” Lots of people are trying to help each other grow in this early adoption stage, and Zen Empire is one of the largest groups on Empire Online which shows that thinking. There’s a lot of ‘likes’ which equate to a lot of votes of confidence. Just a couple of days ago, they decided to get rid of the ‘dislike’ button, which I’m sure would give some businesses more confidence to enter in.

Empire Avenue Co Founder '@Dups'

@Dups said in his interview with @SCBL, ‘If every connection you made cost you money, the human brain asks: Am I going to invest in you? Is that going to show some kind of value back? Our brains are wired towards value.’

And the value is more than an economical increase in the number of Eaves you have, but also in the capacity to engage with the company (or person) that you’re a shareholder in. When you invest you get to see their feed of activity from your profile page and you may in the future get to go to…….

Shareholders meeting. @jowyang and @SCBL were busy comparing diaries as to when they could do them. They were struggling to get early dates. As a heavy investor in both stock, I was keen to protest! I’d be wanting an invite soon….are they at all accountable to us as shareholders for how they use their time?!

I @caleb, wonder whether shareholders meetings could be an alternative to the early Tweet Ups. I could imagine businesses being able to have a lot of fun interacting socially with their staff through shareholders meetings in multiple colourful ways. @jowyang was talking about having one soon in the hangar, and as someone who maxed out my shares in him early on, I’d love to be there.

@jowyang asked the question- that probably everyone would ask of themselves when they join ‘will my stock keep going up?’ I think it will for him and others like him for a while. Why? Because they naturally engage a lot through social media- ongoing content, output and interactions. And he’s engaging inside the community a lot too. Whatsmore as a result, importantly so, they will produce a good dividend return. And those are the people you want to hold onto. That’s better than sticking with someone who’s spammed their way up, only to have little quality online activity. I know where I’m investing my Eaves!

Making the right choice of investment is crucial in Empire Avenue, otherwise you can run out of Eaves, until you sell up stock. You can buy more Eaves (for a limited time only) and @jowyang asked: ‘Is it cheating to buy Eaves.’ @SCBL thought it was fine to make use of whatever is available to you at the time.

Either way when you’re investing in a business, you want to find the right ones.

@jowyang posed the question- “Why invest in companies you don’t know? You need to invest in the big ones. I will be investing in the companies I know have good social media teams.”

He’s got some links which I’ll fish out. They’re pretty handy for tracking which businesses you should look out for based on key social media staff. At the time of writing I think any sizeable company will get a good uptake. There are a few groups who are always looking to promote good stock possibilities- if you’re good, you’ll be found. At time of writing, there’s a 200 strong facebook army, tracking all the best options. Get on the forums, get talking and you’ll be snatched up promptly. I’ll add some of the good advisors to look out for shortly. And on Empire Avenue, you don’t get done for Insider Trading.

Robert Scoble On Empire Avenue @SCBL

I asked @SCBL what he thought of the plan to introduce Foursquare- he felt Quora would be a more important addition. And I couldn’t agree more. At the moment the community forum boards are understandably a little clunky, and lots of engagement on Quora, would mutually promote Empire Avenue, at the same time as allow time till there’s additional funds for investment.

Thanks Robert, Jeremy and Neil. Really enjoyed your thoughts, and will be fascinated to see how this shapes up.

Whist in Empire Avenue, I’ve been in conversation with others toying the issues that businesses will face. Jim Durbin, raised an interesting thought: “Imagine an organized sell-off to protest a business decision. While the network would have to be much larger to make that happen, it’s relatively easy to manufacture a blogpost discussing it, and then getting it out to larger media as an anecdotal story. Reporters are familiar with InTrade. This isn’t that much different.

Likewise, imagine a massive buy designed to reward a business. Harder story to push, but one that once the system is large enough, could be used effectively.”

There’s a lot of fun that could be had with this, and businesses who enter may need a sense of humour to survive.

@Neilpearce added: ‘There is huge potential in this for understanding sentiment. Whether that be in the markets e.g. Audi has a product recall and its shareprice on EA dips or a politician is sold in the wake of some scandle or wayne rooney scores a hatrick for England. With other measures such as Klout or Peerindex only the individual involved can determine their score with EA we get to decide. If it gains enough scale then could we see the real markets being moved by the sentiment expressed on Empire Avenue?”

Doesn’t seem infeasible does it! A lot can happen in 5 years…

So the question, would businesses get their Return on Investment by coming in at this stage? At time of writing YES! Ongoingly so, I’m convinced.

I pointed out that FORD had come in early, and caused a stir. Clearly a lot of the early adopters would get good PR, and the appropriate kudos. Whatsmore, I think the levels of activity for shareholders meetings both online and offline could be fascinating, and could shape up the direction for Empire Avenue. Combining, offline and online is where I can see it growing. A relationship with location could be crucial.

In the meantime, get involved and get on board. But do so carefully- it’s sticky. And without skipping a beat, I’m off to find some fresh people to invest in!

As for me, please buy some @caleb and I’d LOVE it if you left comments and subscribed to the blog. It would more than make my day!

To kick off a discussion I wanted to highlight other reflections others have had. Jim Durbin has helped kick off a lot of these questions, through the forum on Empire Avenue. Thanks Jim. Ask him for an invite.

Dave Cable @THEDAVECABLE added: I think the ability to tie in investments with promotions is something that will be utilised soon. In the same way that Facebook currency is offered on particular retailers sites, I think companies offering to buy a certain amount of shares for a like or follow could be used. Think that as this platform is so new that there is a lot of exploring left to be done be early adaptors.’

Jim Durbin (@SMHEADHUNTER) Empire Avenue as Recruiting Tool:
My background is staffing, so one of the first things I looked for was how to connect with people based on their potential as candidates. EA provides a good window into a person’s broader social media presence, and gives you a non-creepy way to track their progress. The profiles available show you number of tweets and Facebook posts, but it also gives you scores that move over time and a sense of how they treat the game. Are they curious? Are they helpful? Do they engage in conversations, or did they sign up and keep their focus elsewhere?

The answer isn’t always more. Someone with a lot of EA activity may not be the person you want to hire (depends on the job), while someone who has little Twitter Activity but a lot of Facebook activity may be the ideal find. Depends on what you look for.

Catrinel Graepel: In my view, for top / worldwide brands it’s not difficult to get some advantage from this platform as 1) it helps you form an overall idea of how good / interesting your content on other social sites is; and 2) might be fun to see how many investors you can attract when stocks are (real money) free – you can speculate on many PR related releases :)

But what I’m really searching is a solution to how a small / yet unkown brand can develop via EA and gain awareness and as many followers / investors as possible..

Thanks a lot- and now over to you. What do you think? Where is Empire Avenue going? What benefits are there to businesses? What are you doing with your clients/ your businesses? I’d love to hear your thougts…

Good job Caleb, with one exception, I think you should have spent even more time telling your readers how addictive Empire Avenue is. I was getting so far behind on all my other stuff that I had to start using a timer to instill a bit of discipline,

It’s certainly the most fun I have had in social media and it would be hard to find a better bunch of people than those you meet here.

I am glad I got some of your shares when you first started.

For those who want shares in an operator mellowed with maturity, endowed with experience, which give good dividends and steady growth visit: http://www.EmpireAvenue.com/PJW

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Peter – you’re so right. Proceed onto the tip tapping keys on Empire Avenue with caution. It is addictive. Like seriously addictive and I’ve had to work out how to balance this with all else that’s going on.

And the answer is……’I don’t know yet!’ Family first for me. It just helps that I’m in the spare room as the our little baby is currently co-sleeping. Means that I can ‘monitor my Empire Avenue addiction’ without impacting others. But I’ve just been down in Cambridge to see my wider family, and here I am keying away now the whole house has gone to sleep. Something very exciting about that, but equally, something that will need to settle into a good steady rhythm once again. And the time difference in the UK helps to work on other things, when it’s quietened down a little during US sleep times!

How did your timer approach work? Interested to know.

And as for the people on Empire- as you’ve said Peter- they are really friendly and let’s keep it that way. And a culture is often shaped by the founders, and @dups is a lovely friendly guy, so it all follows!

Thanks for your comments Peter.

Very helpful!

http://PeterWrightsBlog.com Peter Wright

The timer works well during the week, but I often turn it off at night if I get involved in the group discussions.

It does not work so well at weekends when I frequently weaken and turn it off then spend longer updating alerts on all my portfolio.

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Oh Peter that’s no help! You’re my inspiration- my hope for strength when the knees buckle and I have to run back to my computer to be wired back in. You’re the ‘operator mellowed with maturity, endowed with experience, who gives good dividends and steady growth’ and if you frequently weaken and turn off the clock and engage in Empire Avenue activity what hope do the rest of us poor mortals have!

That’s a great article Caleb. Super insightful and sounds like you’re mixed ideas with the big boys. Keep me up to speed with everything and HUGE thanks again for turning me onto Empire Ave. One to watch for sure. Happy Easter! :)

Nice Piece Caleb, I’ll be sure to mention you in my soon to be written blog post :)

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Well Domino – you were the one that got me going- thanks :) Will track you down on Empire Avenue after dinner! Everyone @dominooracle is the best person in the chat rooms to look out for on Empire Avenue. A genius with his strategies for investment and a completely great guy!

Anise Smith

Great post! Love it!

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Thanks Anise- If anyone hasn’t met @anise she is the one with all the hot tips on Empire Avenue! She has her finger on the pulse and knows when to get going. Whether it’s a business or a person with strong social media networks, she’s got it covered. Invest in her, to see who she’s buying and follow suit.

http://www.influencier.com DARING

Caleb – GREAT POST! Love your insight, observation and most of all your enthusiasm! I wanted to comment on what Catrinel Graepel (e)CATY was pondering — is Empire Avenue a place where a small / unknown brand can develop? I think the answer is yes, and in fact it might actually be even easier for a smaller brand to develop a presence on EAV then for a big brand. The thing that makes that possible is the simple mechanism of buying shares in folks. Making a purchase in others opens the door to communication in an inviting, non-threatening way. Small brands don’t have to wait for others to discover them, they can go buy shares of folks, and strike up the conversation with a simple, “Hey Welcome to EAv, bought some shares to give you a boost.” Chances are, folks are gonna say thanks, and then it’s up to you to keep the convo going. Learn about who your investing in, show them the ropes, keep talking/chatting/bantering with each other. The more you do that, the higher your price climbs, as does your following. Pretty soon, your small unknown brand isn’t quite that unknown any more.

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Hey Daring- well thank you very much and I can see your one who likes a bit of enthusiasm too. Empire Avenue is first and foremost a lot of enjoyment.

You’re spot on. Small brands are far more likely to buy shares, interact and get stuck in in the way that you suggest. I’ve certainly experienced some great interactions with those who are doing just as you’ve suggested. It’s less than about the ‘big name’ lets all jump on reaction (though that’s still pretty fun)- but far more about the organic interaction. That without a doubt is the stickiest element to this all. Excellent point.

Great job Caleb – you did an excellent job capturing the excitement around the site. I’ve been on just 23 days now, but I’m finding it very useful in helping me identify new groups of influencers I wouldn’t normally run into. Everyone knows Jeremiah and Scoble, but I didn’t know Ron Capps, despite him being from Missouri, a place I thought I knew well.

The beauty of EAV is the attitude of the founders. They are very open to new ideas and very responsive, which I think will allow us over time to create our own uses for the site, and also to regular behavior inside the community. We can shut off anyone who bothers us, but we can connect with those we want to, inside and outside the site.

It gives me a tool I’ve been looking for, and I already have my first client in mind on how to use it. We’ll see.

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Thanks Jim- There’s such a buzz about the place at the moment. Reading Ron Capps around the site has been excellent and Jeremiah is in full swing which is lovely to see!

Couldn’t agree with you more about the attitude of the founders of Empire Avenue. You get a real good feel for how open and engaging @Dups, is from the excellent interview with Scoble. From his tweets and messages over to me, he’s very responsive and open to suggestions- enthusiastic and totally full of beans! I love it! Really meant what I said about admiring the way the founders have sensibly allowed the community to shape it and engage with it, whilst keeping it on a trajectory that works. @Dups loved the idea of the Shareholders meeting as a way to further hear from the community, and get involved. And I’m pleased that Jeremiah has pulled together a meeting date with Scoble, and with @dups as well. Gagging to be there, but with cross Atlantic travel and a 10 week baby, it may not be a feasibility.

I’ve loved all your questions Jim- I gravitate towards people who are chewing the issues over and your chewing got me eating! Thanks!

Look forward to hearing how it works with your client. Keep up the great work and speak soon :)

http://www.mediabadger.com Giles (Webconomist)

Great intro article…A challenge for publicly traded companies will come in the future as it starts to define value of real-world stock prices and can there be a cross-influence? if such is proven, this will be an issue for regulators? What about insider trading?

Some interesting questions and issues will arise if Empire Avenue becomes a primary engagement channel over the longer term. Right now that is the den of Facebook, Twitter and a few others.

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Giles- thank you- that’s really interesting- I do personally think that there will be the space for cross-influence. Public opinion and protests in an offline space affects stock prices- so why would this be different. This will be interesting to watch. So how do you see this being an issue for the regulators? What could you forsee as some of the circumstances and problems?

On Empire Avenue being primary engagement channel- I think it will be a significant player, a very significant player, but I think the overtures of ‘buying friends’ and lack of private sharing will prevent that from happening. I think Empire Avenue doesn’t stand in competition to Facebook and Twitter, but compliments these. For me it’s the missing piece in the jigsaw- I’m writing about this at the moment and will post up shortly.

Please come back on the regulators question- I’m not so familiar with that and would love to learn. Thx again.

Completely agree with you Daring. I think this is a great way to engage with potential customers/partners/vendors/investors/employees… there are so many possibilities and I think the chat rooms are fantastic for meeting new people with common interests.

Caleb – I completely see what you mean by this site being sticky. It’s very hard to leave once you get past the initial learning curve as there is a lot of information to digest right away. Thanks for the blog post! I am sure I will be writing one soon after discover EA and will make sure to mention this post.

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

Yes Yes Yes Tal! The chat rooms are amazing- can get into some amazing intelligent debate and thought. My brain is frazzled. (Also bags of room for the banter). In fact I spent my first hour wetting myself laughing thanks to @anise and @dominooracle.

Tal- the learning curve is a biggie- and I’m working my way up it (but still got a long way to go). There’s a few more posts I will be writing for easy top tips beginning of next week, but in the meantime, get Rons thoughts, and track down @dominooracle. He for me, is one of the biggest legends on the site! Love his attitude.

Blimey! You are hooked on EA aren’t you! One of the most enthusiastic posts I’ve read in a while and it’s nice to see someone striving to detail as much info as possible on this great platform. Some great insights from Scobs and Jowyang – nicely done! Catch up with you soon – more than likely on EA! Once again mate, nice work

http://www.calebstorkey.net Caleb Storkey

I love Empire Avenue! Just love it! Thanks Dave- been great to find you online……and loved your comments there. Thanks for the twitter follow- I’ve followed back. So on here, in Empire Avenue or on Twitter let’s keep learning from each other.

Love to see how you’re going to be able to use it for business? Any further thoughts on that?

http://Www.ithinkmedia.co.uk TheDavecable

Trying to get an influential business owner involved to provide an insight for him – I’ll let ya know what happens

Thanks- that’s kind of you Dennis- I loved writing it, but I think there’s some amazing thoughts other people are beginning to explore- we’re just scratching the tip of the ice burger!! There’s some great other blogs and comments that are out there on Empire Avenue- a number of these have been linked at the bottom. I’m hoping others will add more. If you’re on Empire Avenue Dennis, be great to connect. I’m a sucker for people commenting – so I’ll be sure to invest :)…

You write: ‘The more time you spend building your personal brand (or social profile), the more valuable your brand becomes.’

I know, you’ve been banging on about this for ages! Empire Avenue therefore is clearly a platform for you.

But I read an interesting blog challenging the focus on ‘ego’ in Empire Avenue by Laura Pevehouse Thomas and she was questioning the value of Empire Avenue on that basis (alongside some interesting other points). http://laurapthomas.x.iabc.com/2011/04/23/the-empires-new-clothes-why-i-dont-like-empire-avenue/. Thomas says: ‘We don’t really need something else to feed the egos of the “internet famous.” I agree with her, but not just for those who are famous, but all of us who are being strongly engaging building up ones own ‘ego’ on EA. Thomas recognises it’s a game, but for good reason feels uncomfortable about aspects of it.

Yet and it’s a huge YET – I have loved being on Empire Avenue for the connections that have been made, being able to talk with people who are working on some amazing concepts and projects, the fun of the game, the exuberant friendliness, being part of something exciting together and the depth of conversations I’ve been having with strangers. (Oh! And it’s nice to finally have a few more people reading my blog and leaving comments). Share price- it’s fun, but it’s not the be all and end all.

The challenge is how you hold in tension the questionable emphasis on ‘ego’ with the positive value of these connections.

And for now, I’m willing to suspend judgement on the challenge of ‘ego’ and go with an openness to see if there are gems to be found.

But Jeremy- as I know you’re so focused on building brand, how do you personally hold this tension together in building your own personal brand?

About Caleb Storkey

I'm passionate to see people be all they were created to be & deeply committed to ideas that will change the world. I'm an Entrepreneur, Speaker, Blogger, Coach & Consultant. I'm married to my wife Kerry and we have a gorgeous 2 year old called Iona.